CHAPTER THREE
Fallon
IT HAD BEEN HOURS SINCE I’D SAT AT THAT PICNIC TABLE WITH Kye. Hours since I’d felt his pinky curved around mine. Hours since I’d heard those words. But I could still feel the heat of his finger, the buzz it left beneath my skin. And that single sentence still haunted me.
“The last thing I think you are is weak, Sparrow.”
I fought the urge to close my eyes and trace his face in my mind. That dark scruff tipping almost into beard territory. The even darker hair that was just a little wild. The scar that ran parallel to his eyebrow. The way those amber eyes burned into me.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I tried to shove the image of Kye down as I flipped on my blinker to turn onto the gravel road that would take me to Colson Ranch. Take me home. But the words still echoed in my mind. And I couldn’t help but hold tight to one in particular.
Sparrow.
He’d told me once that he called me that because he’d found me singing. Though he likely meant screaming. Letting loose everything I’d been holding on to so tightly inside. But the nickname had come to mean so much more to me.
Just thinking it had me struggling to suck in a breath. Kye rarely used the nickname these days. But when he did, it felt like a knife to the heart and the most precious gift imaginable. It didn’t matter that it caused me pain. I still clung to it with everything I had.
Sparrow.
I pressed a palm to my chest, rubbing the spot between my breasts, the one that always ached when I missed Kye—especially in the way I used to have him.
The closer I got to the ranch, the more I tried to shove those thoughts away. They had to go back into that secret compartment in my heart where I always kept them. It was better that way for everyone—everyone but me. But I could make the sacrifice.
As the house came into view, warmth spread through me, the kind that came from countless beautiful memories. It eased the sting of my sacrifice a bit. It also reminded me that I needed to prioritize my family, even when work got busy.
The white farmhouse had been around for generations, but Mom and Lolli had made sure it remained in perfect shape.
They painted it every few years, oiled the rockers and porch swings every spring and fall, and maintained the gardens with a single-minded focus—even if Lolli’s personal garden had a few so-called herbs that were far from just medicinal.
I passed Trace’s sheriff’s department SUV that I knew housed his daughter Keely’s booster seat and likely a few painting supplies from his girlfriend Ellie’s new interior design gig.
I grinned as I saw Anson’s black truck with a new flower bumper sticker that read: Stop and smell the roses.
He’d hate it. And I needed to know if my bestie-sister, Rho, was responsible or if it was Shep’s doing since Anson worked for him.
I spotted the Range Rover I knew belonged to Arden’s fiancé, Linc, and Shep’s truck with the Colson Construction logo on the side. The only missing vehicle was Cope’s over-the-top SUV since he, Sutton, and Sutton’s son, Luca, were in Seattle for the hockey season.
I did my best not to focus on the second black truck in the lineup. The one with the artful, matte-black accents I knew Kye had drawn himself before having them detailed onto his precious baby. Everything Kye had was so … him.
My hatchback sputtered slightly as I pulled into the final makeshift parking spot. I gave her another pat. “Just one more winter.”
I was saving as much as possible, but it wasn’t like my salary would make me a millionaire.
So, it took careful adjustments here and there: less takeout, more meal prep, cutting my cable—even though I loved movies.
At least I still had Kye’s Netflix password.
There were countless tiny concessions, but it would all work out.
Climbing out of my car, I was grateful I’d taken the time to change into jeans, boots, and a flannel.
The November air had gotten even cooler this afternoon, and it was downright cold now.
Grabbing my bag, I headed for the steps but came up short at the towering, tattooed mountain of a man standing in front of them, a scowl on his face.
I let out a tiny yelp of surprise. “What are you doing out here?” I hadn’t had time to shore up my defenses or put up all my walls.
So, I found myself tracing the tattoos on his neck with my gaze: the sparrow tucked just behind his ear and the anchor with artful script around it.
Every tattoo had a story, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that sparrow was for me.
But then again, we did live in Sparrow Falls.
It could’ve been a nod to that just as easily.
“You’re late,” Kye grumbled.
I glanced at my watch. “Fifteen minutes. I wanted to change.”
His scowl only deepened. “What’s wrong with your car?”
I rolled my eyes and tried to sidestep him. “It’s older than dirt.”
“Fallon,” Kye growled as he blocked my path.
“It’ll be fine. Just one more winter, and I can get a new one.” Or a new-to-me one. I’d never had a brand-new car in my life. But I’d take one that didn’t sound like a chain smoker after their fifth pack of the day.
“I’ll look at it this weekend.”
I sent Kye a look that should’ve had him stepping back. “I don’t need you to look at it.”
His amber eyes flashed with something I couldn’t identify. “You don’t want to get stranded somewhere. Or break down on the side of the road. It’s not safe. Especially given some of the places you go.”
That last sentence sounded like he’d ground it out through gritted teeth and a world of frustration.
“Kye—”
“Please.”
Damn it all to health food hell. The one thing I was powerless against—Kye asking. And worse than that was seeing the worry in those amber eyes.
“Fine. But I cover the cost of any new parts it needs.”
A grin curved Kye’s mouth, and I felt it in that spot along my sternum that belonged only to him. “Thank you,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and guiding me toward the house. “Did that creeper leave you alone for the rest of the day?”
“Creeper?” I asked, confusion furrowing my brow.
“Noah,” Kye ground out.
I sighed. “He seemed slightly terrified of me for the rest of the day, so thanks for that.” Every time Noah needed to ask me something, he looked over my head instead of at me.
“Good.”
“You traumatized the poor man,” I shot back.
Kye scoffed. “If that traumatized him, he needs a little more life experience.”
“Whatever,” I muttered.
As we trudged up the steps, the front door opened, and my mom appeared. “There’s my baby girl.”
Kye’s arm slipped off my shoulders, and I went straight for her. Mom wrapped me in a tight hug, the scent of cinnamon and apples swirling around me. “Apple pie?” I mumbled into her neck.
“I had some sort of sixth sense that my girl needed some comfort food.”
“You are the bestest mom ever. Do you know that?”
She laughed. “It never hurts to hear it once in a while.”
“Do I get some of that apple pie, too?” Kye asked hopefully.
Mom arched a brow at him. “That depends. Are you and Lolli going to start trouble?”
The grin on Kye’s face widened. “Of course.”
Mom threw up her hands and moved back into the house. “I give up.”
“We just like to keep you on your toes,” Kye said.
“You like to give me gray hair,” Mom shot back. There was a little more silver woven through the light-brown strands now. It looked beautiful, but it reminded me that she was getting older, and that wasn’t something I was fond of thinking about.
Voices and sounds of chaos filtered out of the living room.
We moved in that direction, passing countless familiar landmarks along the way.
Family photos. The vase that had been glued back together after Cope and Kye broke it during a round of indoor football.
A painting of our house and land that Arden had done for Mom.
A frame that Trace and Shep had gotten her one Christmas, complete with a chaotic family photo.
A potted plant Rho had nurtured from a seedling just for Mom.
A clock that had been passed down through the Colson family for generations.
I loved that the house was a patchwork of memories, just like our family—brought together in unexpected ways but with heart. The familiar sounds of chaos got louder as we approached the living room.
“She made it,” Rhodes cheered as I walked in, her newly acquired engagement ring flashing in the light.
“Auntie Fal!” Keely yelled, jumping up from where she’d been coloring with Ellie and Arden. She ran at me, and I caught her on the fly, stumbling back a few steps until Kye steadied me. Keely hugged me tightly. “I’ve been missing you.”
I rocked her back and forth, realizing that Trace’s daughter had somehow grown since I’d seen her last week. “I’ve missed you, too. And look at these braids. Aren’t you fabulous?”
Keely grinned as I set her down. “Ellie’s teaching Daddy some new ones. It’s an infinity braid. Isn’t it the coolest?” Keely spun in a circle, sending her hair flying.
Trace lifted a beer from his spot in the kitchen where he was helping Mom prep a salad. “I think this one is above my pay grade.”
Kye’s lips twitched as he moved to sit in one of the overstuffed chairs. “Never took you for a quitter.”
“He’s right,” Lolli said from her spot on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “If I would’ve quit my diamond paintings because of how hard those damned little gemstones are to maneuver, you all wouldn’t have the gorgeous works of art you have now.”
Shep started choking. “Gorgeous works of art?”
His girlfriend, Thea, thumped him on the back as she struggled not to laugh. “I love my diamond painting.”
“Penis pumpkins,” Trace argued. “She made you penis pumpkins.”
Kye lifted his beer. “I really prefer dick gourds.”
Linc chuckled from his spot on the couch. “It does have a certain ring. But it’ll never beat my dick sticks diamond painting.”
Keely looked around the room. “What’s a dick stick?”